


My Signal

by Nhitori



Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 15:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5592292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhitori/pseuds/Nhitori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> In that case, I order you to remain in the Le Bel household under the guise of a butler, and await my signal.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Signal

“Albert,” 

Albert Alain Alkan knew that voice, that tone, that exact phrasing on his name very well by now. He also knew very well how he was supposed to respond, and knew exactly what he was expected to do. This should have been no different from any other time, and his master’s voice betrayed no change in the expected behaviors either, however, there was a sort of emotion to the way that he stood. Worn down at such a young age, hardly even an adult. He stood in front of a window despite the utter darkness outside. There was no moon tonight.

The only light in the room at all filtered in from the hallway, an unsettlingly bright yellow wash over the furniture in the room which seemed as if it would do much better under a white, or better yet, blue light. The lamps in the room seemed as if they’d fit that bill, but as it was the light from the hallway left it otherwise and very much wrong.

The correct response would be, “Yes, Master Sakuya.”

Albert did not give the correct response.

“Are you feeling all right?”

“So… you can tell,” Sakuya frowned as he turned around, holding his hands over his chest and keeping his eyes trained on the ground, “No, Albert, I suppose that I’m really not feeling all right. It’s… a beautiful night, isn’t it?” He questioned, looking back at the window, “I had them turn off the lights on the grounds so I could see the stars…”

“I never much took you to be one for stargazing. Didn’t you always denounce the astronomy club at your school as a trivial thing?”

“There’s a lot of things I called trivial at that school, Albert. There’s a lot of things I’ve called trivial my whole life,” Once more looking at the ground, he drew the curtains closed, then held the soft silk to his face, lips pressed together in a tight frown before he continued to speak, listlessly, “The stars are beautiful and fascinating.”

“The way you say that sounds as if there are other things you feel differently about than you claimed,” Albert continued speaking with such impudence as he would usually be harshly censured for, but now he was as casual as he could get. Master Sakuya didn’t seem to need a butler at the moment. He seemed to need… somebody to talk to.

“Of course. There are many, many things…” He dropped the curtain and stepped towards the middle of the room, “Many things which I deemed trivial, and many things which I took for granted. Friendship, for one thing. The arts, for another…” A deep sigh fell into the oddly still air, “If I had not been the heir, to the Le Bel line… I would have liked to continue studying the arts, for all my life. Perhaps she would have joined me…” He groaned as he took a seat on the piano bench, facing outwards rather than towards the instrument, “Tosaka… or at least, she might have stayed nearer…”

“You don’t speak to any of your friends from school anymore, do you?” 

“No…” He shook his head, “I’ve tried calling, a few times, but none of them ever answer. If I were still in Japan, perhaps I’d have better chances of maintaining those friendships… but here, back home, now that I am the master of the house… Now that I, am the one who comes to mind if you say ‘Monsieur Le Bel’... I suppose I’m not even the same person they knew, anymore,” He scoffed, running a hand back through his hair, “Even Sakazaki hardly keeps in touch anymore.”

“I believe I would have to agree. Since your father died… you are not yourself. I had previously assumed it was only a result of grief, however…”

“I never cared enough about him to grieve his death. He was never a father to me… more like an employer,” He shook his head, “I worked for him, and he taught me how to take his place. That was the extent of our relationship. My father… I never knew a single real thing about him. He was nothing to me. It’s only because I needed to become him, and not out of any sadness for his death, that I’ve become this way. I am in no part, Sakuya Shirogane… I am only Le Bel.”

Albert didn’t respond to this, and Sakuya turned around to sit properly on the bench, opening the piano and closing his eyes. He brushed his fingers lightly over the keys, not enough to press them down at all, only wanting to feel them. How they felt under his fingers… even with his eyes shut, he knew his way across these keys even better than he knew how to navigate his own home. Touching the keys again now, it brought those memories to the forefront of his mind. Even now, he remembered. He remembered how to play many different things.

His butler stepped a little bit closer, watching his hands when he wouldn’t. He could see the relaxation in his face, working through his shoulders, releasing the tension, the wear and tear that had grown on him through the brief years he’d been in charge of the Le Bel estate. He had been born for it, bred for it, but not meant for it. This, the instrument before him, it held the entire universe for him.

He took a deep breath, and played. It was a very long piece, one which Albert didn’t know the exact name of, but certainly did know what sort of song. A requiem. A song for the dead, a song for the funeral, a memory of the deceased. It was not for the senior Le Bel, no. This song was for Sakuya himself. He did not cry, instead smiling softly as he played the somber melody, very glad only to be playing again.

When he was finished, he lifted his hands gracefully, and as the room fell into silence, he drew two fingers on his right hand against the palm of his left. Albert expected him to turn, to look at him, to show some sort of hesitation, but he only kept his eyes closed, looking so incredibly peaceful…

_I’ll hire you to assassinate me. When, and only when I give the signal._

He remembered the day Sakuya had made that deal. Back then, it was only an excuse to keep Albert in his employment, but it had always remained the truth that this very well could happen.

“Yes, Master Sakuya,” He spoke in a voice that was soft enough to keep the feeling of silence in the room. Blood pooled beneath the piano’s bench where the body had fallen, and Albert wiped that same blood off his dagger with a dark handkerchief before returning it to its hidden sheath and taking his leave.


End file.
